Still no help for flood hit farmers

This was the reality confirmed this week by one of the farmers most badly affected by the natural disaster.

William McKelvey runs a suckler beef and sheep farm close to Plumbridge. In his case 21 acres of land, set aside for second cut silage at the time, was totally decimated.

He explained:“The amount of debris and spoil deposited on the land was incredible. When the fields eventually dried out, I was able to push some of this material into hollows around the farm. But there are still five immense heaps of spoil piled up on the land impacted by the landslide. The cost of moving this material off the farm will be immense.

“It will also take years to get my farm back into the condition it was in prior to the landslide.”

William is quick to point out that he is only one of many farmers impacted by the events of August 2017.

He continued:“In some cases the cost of getting farms back to some semblance of normality will run into thousands of pounds.

“Insurance doesn’t cover disasters of this magnitude. We are talking about a one in 300 year event.”

William went on to point out that farmers in Donegal, who were equally affected by the events that occurred on the night of August 22nd/23rd 2017, received compensation from the Irish government within a few months of the disaster unfolding.

“That money came from Brussels,” he explained.

“In our own case, surveys of the damage have been undertaken by two government departments. Representatives of the farmers affected by the landslides have met two separate DAERA permanent secretaries. But, still, we have had no indication of a decision being made on some form of compensation package.”

William believes that Stormont must act now to support those farmers, whose lives were turned upside down through no fault of their own three years ago.

West Tyrone SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan MLA commented:“It is disgraceful that the farmers of the Glenelly Valley have had to wait three years, and still they haven’t got a support package.

“I flagged this issue up with Minister Poots on the day he was appointed and several times since, most recently last week. When Stormont was down I met with both Denis McMahon and his predecessor Noel Lavery and they told me nothing could be done unless there was a Minister in place.

“In February, Minister Poots told me he was actively considering the merits of a hardship scheme for farmers who suffered significant financial loss but that a final decision had not been taken.”

He continued: “It is now five months later. I know he has been busy on Covid-19 issues but he needs to act now.

 “In Belfast, Stormont was quick to deploy resources and finances following the Primark fire. Yet in Tyrone, they have sat on their hands for three full years.”